Category Archives: seeds and plants

“For gardeners, this is the season of lists and callow hopefulness; hundreds of thousands of bewitched readers are poring over their catalogues, making lists for their seed and plant orders, dreaming their dreams.” – Katharine White, Onward & Upward in … Continue reading →

Chicago’s oldest community garden fair in Hyde Park has always been a delightful time to wander and pick up herbs and vegetable seedlings. It’s also important to support local community endeavors. This year the fair will be held in the … Continue reading →

With the rain and warm sunshine, seedlings and seeds are growing strong. Each day you can see huge growth as asparagus quadruple size, carpets of greens spring forth, soil blocks put out new leaves and fruit trees flower. … Continue reading →

Edible gardens too have perennials, plants that have a life span of more than two years. They go dormant each fall and return in the spring. The perennials are always the first up. Here’s some of what’s appearing in my … Continue reading →

Lyrics from Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot, of course. But apropos edible gardens too. All the tiny seeds planted and watered these past weeks are beginning to poke out of the soil and grow. The fruit trees are in blossom. Bees are … Continue reading →

My dear friend Sam Guard sent me this excerpt from . . . And Still Our Wonder by Victor R. Boswell from the USDA’s Yearbook of Agriculture, 1961. Seeds are vehicles for the spread of new life from place to … Continue reading →

Sorrel is nearly the first thing up in the a spring garden, and it’s lime green leaves make it a bright welcome. It’s sharp, citrus flavor lends real zest to spring salads or pesto. Although we tend to think of … Continue reading →

I spoke on What to Grow to Fill Your Plate at the Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice program this past January at KAM Isaiah Israel Congregation’s Soil to Plate weekend of speakers and symposia. There were many impressive speakers and … Continue reading →